The 5A Briarwood Christian Lions opened the season with a loss to 6A Vestavia Hills, but rebounded last Friday night with an impressive 38-14 win over regional opponent John Carroll.

The win over John Carroll at home places the Lions at 1-1 overall and 1-0 in area play.

The Lions led the Cavaliers of John Carroll from the start, jumping out 3-0, 24-0 and 38-0 before the Cavaliers ever dented the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.

While the two teams were fairly even on the ground with 65 yards for John Carroll and 98 for Briarwood, the Lions dominated in the air 206 to 136.

John Carroll fumbled and lost the ball twice while Briarwood fumbled and lost the ball once.

The leading rusher for Briarwood was Barrett Trotter, who gained 38 yards on six attempts. However, Jonathan Sillers carried the ball six times for 26 and two touchdowns while Race Harrison carried the ball five times for 25 yards and one touchdown.

Passing for Briarwood, Trotter completed 14 of 21 attempts for 209 yards and two touchdowns.

Briarwood head football coach Fred Yancey said he felt his team &8220;came out fast&8221; and scored the first three times it touched the ball.

He said that, defensively, his team &8220;shut down some talented players&8221; for John Carroll.

Yancey recognized the defensive play of Alex Davis who had six tackles and two and one half sacks; Lance Coggins, who had a good night with seven tackles; and Gill Townes, who led the defense with 10 tackles and one and one half sacks.

Yancey said his offense played efficiently with Sillers running well in the first half.

He also recognized the out standing running and blocking of Will Noel as well as the outstanding work of Wes Nichols.

Among highlights of the contest, Gordon Matthew hit a 31-yard field goal for the Lions and Trotter connected on a 50-yard pass to Riley White for a touchdown.

Yancey said the Lions and Benjamin Russell split last year.

Next up for the Lions will be a tough road trip to play region opponent Benjamin Russell